1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to large-area electronics and to methods for manufacturing thin film electronics continuously on separate carrier substrate foils, and then to combining these foils using anisotropic electrical conductors or light guides.
2. Related Art
In the field of thin film electronics where two or more layers of active circuits are employed, many technologies exist for connection of separate planes of passive circuits. One of these technologies is multilevel metallization on top of integrated silicon circuits, for which several levels of metal lines are built up by alternating between the fabrication of metal patterns, the deposition of insulators, the opening of vertical connections, followed by the fabrication of the next level of metal pattern, etc. Another of these technologies is multilevel printed wire boards (PWBs), for which passive metal connections are deposited on epoxy-based or ceramic boards that are fabricated with openings to make vertical connections. Individual boards are bonded to each other to form multilevel PWBs by bonding techniques that depend on the material of the board. These techniques are used industrially.
However, there are drawbacks associated with these existing techniques.